Most C# books are written for experienced C++ and Java programmers. If you're a novice programmer, or you have experience in VB6 or other procedural programming languages, and you want to learn C#, until now you've been out of luck.That's why Jesse Liberty, author of the best-selling books Programming C# and Programming ASP.NET, has written an entry-level guide to C#. Written in a warm and friendly manner, this book assumes no prior programming experience, and provides an easy introduction to Microsoft's premier .NET language.Learning C# is a complete introduction to C# and object-oriented programming. Learning C# will help you build a solid foundation in .NET, and show how to apply your skills by using dozens of tested examples. Learning C# introduces Visual Studio .NET, a tool set for building Windows and Web applications. You'll learn about the syntax and structure of the C# language, including operators, classes and interfaces, structs, arrays, and strings. Liberty then demonstrates how to develop various kinds of applications--including those that work with databases--and web services.By the time you've finished Learning C# you'll be ready to move on to a more advanced programming guide that will help you create large-scale web and Windows applications.Whether you have a little object-oriented programming experience or you are new to programming altogether, Learning C# will set you firmly on your way to mastering the essentials of the C# language.

Chapter 1 C# and .NET Programming

C# and .NET

The .NET Platform

The .NET Framework

The C# Language

The Structure of C# Applications

The Development Environment

Chapter 2 Getting Started with C#

What’s in a Program?

Your First Program: Hello World

Examining Your First Program

Chapter 3 Object-Oriented Programming

Creating Models

Classes and Objects

Defining a Class

Class Relationships

The Three Pillars of Object-Oriented Programming

Encapsulation

Specialization

Polymorphism

Object-Oriented Analysis and Design

Chapter 4 Visual Studio .NET

Start Page

Inside the Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

IntelliSense

Building and Running

For More Information

Chapter 5 C# Language Fundamentals

Types

Variables

Definite Assignment

Constants

Strings

Statements

Expressions

Whitespace

Chapter 6 Branching

Unconditional Branching Statements

Conditional Branching Statements

Iteration (Looping) Statements

Chapter 7 Operators

The Assignment Operator (=)

Mathematical Operators

Increment and Decrement Operators

Relational Operators

Chapter 8 Classes and Objects

Defining Classes

Method Arguments

Constructors

Initializers

Copy Constructors

The this Keyword

Static and Instance Members

Destroying Objects

Chapter 9 Inside Methods

Overloading Methods

Encapsulating Data with Properties

Returning Multiple Values

Chapter 10 Basic Debugging

Setting a Breakpoint

The Call Stack

Chapter 11 Inheritance and Polymorphism

Specialization and Generalization

Inheritance

Polymorphism

Abstract Classes

Sealed Classes

The Root of All Classes: Object

Boxing and Unboxing Types

Chapter 12 Operator Overloading

Using the operator Keyword

Creating Useful Operators

Logical Pairs

Conversion Operators

Chapter 13 Structs

Defining a Struct

Chapter 14 Interfaces

Implementing an Interface

Implementing More Than One Interface

Casting to an Interface

Extending Interfaces

Combining Interfaces

Overriding Interface Implementations

Explicit Interface Implementation

Chapter 15 Arrays

Arrays

Multidimensional Arrays

System.Array

Indexers

Chapter 16 Collection Interfaces and Types

The Collection Interfaces

Array Lists

Queues

Stacks

Copying from a Collection Type to an Array

Chapter 17 Strings

Creating Strings

Manipulating Strings

Regular Expressions

The Regex Class

Chapter 18 Throwing and Catching Exceptions

Throwing Exceptions

Searching for an Exception Handler

The throw Statement

The try and catch Statements

How the Call Stack Works

Creating Dedicated catch Statements

The finally Statement

Exception Class Methods and Properties

Custom Exceptions

Chapter 19 Delegates and Events

Delegates

Multicasting

Events

Chapter 20 Afterword

Where to Go from Here

Advanced Topics in C#

Web (ASP.NET) Programming

Windows Forms Programming

Other Resources

C# Keywords

Colophon

Jesse Liberty

Jesse Liberty is the best selling author of Programming ASP.NET, Programming C#, and a dozen other books on web and object oriented programming. He is president of Liberty Associates, Inc., where he provides contract programming, consulting and on-site training in ASP.NET, C#, C++ and related topics. Jesse has been a Distinguished Software Engineer at AT&T and Vice President for technology development at CitiBank.

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of Learning C# is a goldfish. Goldfish are freshwater fish popular in aquariums and ponds. Though they are native to China, goldfish are one of the most common household pets all over the world. They were first domesticated centuries ago when it was discovered that carp, which are usually olivecolored, can have color mutations causing some of their scales to be red or gold. These mutated fish were bred to create many different varieties of goldfish, including the oranda, ryukin, lionhead, pearlscale, telescoped eye, and bubble eye types.Most commercial goldfish are scaled and have metallic red, gold, white, silver, or black sheens. But the more rare "scaleless" fish have transparent scales, making them appear bright red, blue, purple, or calico-patterned. Though the wild carp from which goldfish are bred can measure up to 16 inches in length, most commercial goldfish are between 1 and 4 inches long. Darren Kelly was the production editor, Catherine Morris was the copyeditor, and Sheryl Avruch was the proofreader for Learning C#. Tatiana Apandi Diaz and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Interior composition was done by Philip Dangler and Genevieve d'Entremont. Angela Howard wrote the index.Hanna Dyer designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is Lucas-Font's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Linley Dolby.

This book is exactly what I needed to get started in C#. If you are brand new to programing this book is a must. It gives you the building block basics to help you get a good start and keep going. The most help to me was the great examples that explain things in simple terms that were easy to grasp. I think the only suggestion I would make is that if this book is ever revised would be to continue with more of those kinds simple terms where the book starts to get more complicated. That said this book is a must have for anyone that wants to learn C#.

Really this book was and is being basic in my personal and professional life. I adored the form with that the author Jesse Liberty writes the OOP concepts. My old one, forgives the privacy, you is of congratulations. This is one of the books that more use in the introductory lessons on C#. Who not yet read is losing time, therefore here it is here a great source! Thanks Jesse Liberty!!!!

This book is somewhat useless without the source code in electronic media format. The source code is supposed to be posted on the author's site www.libertyalliance.com, but is not. I have written to the author twice with no response. I am going to return the book.